tidy

adjective

ti·dy | \ ˈtī-dē

tidier; tidiest

Definition of tidy

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : neat and orderly in appearance or habits : well ordered and cared for

b : methodical, precise a tidy mind

2 : large, substantial a tidy profit

3 : adequately satisfactory : acceptable, fair a tidy solution to their problem

4 : properly filled out : plump

tidy

verb

tidied; tidying

Definition of tidy (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

: to put in order tidy up a room

intransitive verb

: to make things tidy tidying up after supper

tidy

noun

plural tidies

Definition of tidy (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : a usually compartmentalized receptacle for various small objects

2 : a piece of fancywork used to protect the back, arms, or headrest of a chair or sofa from wear or soil

Other Words from tidy Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about tidy

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from tidy

Adjective

tidily \ ˈtī-də-lē

\ adverb

tidiness \ ˈtī-dē-nəs

\ noun

Verb

tidier noun

Examples of tidy in a Sentence

Adjective

He has always been a tidy person. She earns a tidy salary. They paid a tidy sum for the house.

Verb

I tidied the house before they arrived.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The tidy, matching hangers remind me that my clothes (and myself) are worth treating well. — Dawn Nadeau, Good Housekeeping, "How I Totally Changed My Life to Finally Get Organized," 28 Dec. 2018 Plus, who doesn't love keeping things tidy and organized? — Taylor Mead, House Beautiful, "Undercounter Refrigerator Drawers Are The Secret To Storing Extra Leftovers This Holiday Season," 5 Nov. 2018 The Los Angeles Chargers are a tidy 5-2, despite playing in an abounded miniature golf course. — Jason Gay, WSJ, "Football’s Cardboard Box of Melancholy," 28 Oct. 2018 But that tidy resolution was quickly forgotten when, a few weeks later, a self-driving Uber vehicle struck and killed a 49-year-old woman who was crossing a darkened street in Tempe, Arizona. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, "The Verge 2018 tech report card: Uber," 29 Dec. 2018 And on a granular level, being honest with myself has turned out to be one of the biggest keys in staying tidy. — Dawn Nadeau, Good Housekeeping, "How I Totally Changed My Life to Finally Get Organized," 28 Dec. 2018 Suddenly, my tidy notions of right and wrong were jumbled up, and my understanding of Jesus needed refining. — Cindy Mallette, Vox, "In a year of hyperpartisanship, I did the unthinkable — I changed my mind about politics.," 20 Dec. 2018 Home flippers and real estate investors helped inflate the housing bubble by buying houses, holding them for a brief period, and then flipping them for a tidy profit. — Jeff Andrews, Curbed, "10 years after the financial crisis, is the housing market still at risk?," 29 Aug. 2018 These are all her tips and tricks to keeping your freezer tidy and clean. — Audrey Bruno, SELF, "How to Clean Your Freezer the Easy Way," 5 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The October 2018 Update tried to tidy up this situation. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Windows 10 October 2018 Update no longer deletes your data," 10 Oct. 2018 The robots will be tidying the aisles by January 31, 2019. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Walmart Buys Over 300 Aisle-Cleaning Robots," 6 Dec. 2018 So what would the best-selling author and tidying guru debut next? — Bridget Hallinan, Condé Nast Traveler, "Marie Kondo's Revolutionary New Product Is...a Shoebox," 24 July 2018 Years later, that same urge to tidy led to her bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, which teaches readers to throw away items that don't bring them joy. — Kate Storey, Good Housekeeping, "Marie Kondo Reveals a Nervous Breakdown Led to Her Joy Method," 5 Jan. 2016 The 2017 Vikings tidied their path to a division title by knocking out the star quarterback of the rival Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, and then defeated the New Orleans Saints in their postseason opener on a 61-yard touchdown as time expired. — Ben Shpigel, New York Times, "The Eagles Crushed Vikings Fans’ Hopes. Now They’re Crashing Their Super Bowl Party.," 30 Jan. 2018 The physical therapists and occupational therapists and nurses and that woman Bianca who tidied up, telling him about her son, the high school basketball player. — Mike Jensen, Philly.com, "Former Temple big man Ron Rollerson, having lost a leg, finds a new sport," 24 May 2018 In every World Cup city, there were signs that the local government had made an effort to tidy up. — Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, "Peeking Around Corners in the World Cup’s Provincial Cities," 14 July 2018 They were spotted tidying up the stadiums after their matches. — Fox News, "Gutfeld: Trump is succeeding and it's the media's nightmare," 24 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The appeal of my WeWork space is fairly obvious: Someone else maintains the free coffee, waters the plants, and tidies up the sun dappled work spaces. — Aaron Pressman, Fortune, "Data Sheet—Why WeWork Has to Pay Up for Rapid Growth," 25 Apr. 2018 The most popular affordable robot vacuum A good robot vacuum can help you keep your home tidy between deep cleanings, and the Eufy RoboVac 11+ is the #1 best-selling robot vacuum on Amazon right now. — Samantha Gordon, USA TODAY, "These are the 5 best Amazon deals for the first day of spring," 20 Mar. 2018 The truth escapes them that within a month, their designer efforts will be covered in old pizza boxes and dirty clothes exactly like the other rooms -- until mom shows up a day early for homecoming and tidies things up a bit. — Beth Thames, AL.com, "Oprah for president? She's served her country already," 10 Jan. 2018 YOUR PROPERTY TIDY Have the lawn mowed, the plants watered and the pool cleaned. — Ronda Kaysen, New York Times, "How to Protect Your House When You’re on Vacation," 14 July 2017 Buy Photo Erica Tunnell’s tidy row home in the Overbrook section of the city was swarmed Saturday by environmental activists, students and public health experts. — Chris Mondics, Philly.com, "Activists, community groups test for lead," 24 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tidy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.